Havana, Cuba, Sep 20, 2015 / 04:56 pm (CNA) - Pope Francis met with Fidel Castro on Sunday and gave him a special gift: a book and two CDs with the homilies and songs of Father Armando Llorente, a Jesuit priest who was Castro’s school teacher. Before Father Llorente’s death, he publically asked for Castro’s conversion and repentance.
Father Llorente was Castro’s teacher and mentor at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, where Castro studied until he was 16 years old.
In 2007, in an interview given from exile in Miami, Florida, the priest asked to meet Castro and said he was willing to immediately go to Cuba and hear his confession.
“The first thing that we would do would be to give each other a big hug, laugh and remember the adventures that we had together, which were many and very beautiful.” Then he would tell him: “Fidel, the moment of truth has arrived,” Llorent told the news agency Efe.
The Spanish-born priest emphasized that he maintained hope that he would be able to absolve Castro of his sins. He stressed the need for him to publically ask for forgiveness ¨because his sins were not only personal.¨
Llorente was a 24-year-old Jesuit novice when he was sent to Cuba in 1942 to finish his formation. When he was a teacher at the preparatory school, Castro was his best student and had many very good friends.
In 1945, the priest wrote in the school yearbook: “Fidel Castro, has the makings of a hero, the history of his motherland will have to speak about him.¨
In the 2007 interview, Father Llorente said that Castro’s school years were the best of his life because up until then “he didn’t feel loved by anyone.” He had many “traumas and issues” knowing that he was the conceived in an extramarital affair of his father, Angel Castro, and Lina Ruz, who worked as a servant in his house.
During the Cuban Revolution in December 1958, Father Llorente, under the guise of a rancher, was able to reach Castro and speak to him.
¨He confessed to me that he had lost the faith, and I responded to him: ‘Fidel, one thing is to lose your faith and another thing is to lose your dignity’.”
Castro would expel the Society of Jesus from Cuba.
In 1961, Father Llorente was forced into exile in Miami where he established a branch of the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria, a Marian Congregation whose spirituality is based upon Jesuit formation principles with a strong Marian reflection.
Fr. Llorente lived in Miami until his death on April 28, 2010 at the age of 91.
After the priest’s death, Cardinal Sean O’Malley wrote that Father Llorente “gave more retreats in one year than the majority of Jesuits give in their lifetime. He had a great gift to inspire the youth to be more active in the Church.”
Cardinal O’Malley described the priest as “an eloquent teacher of Ignatian spirituality and the gospel life.”
Local musicians attend Pastoral Musicians
Conference in Chicago
Special to the Register
“SING TO THE LORD!” “Canten al Senor!” “Mwimbieni BWANA!” “Chantez au Seigneur!” “Cantate Domino!”
All of these different languages…making the same proclamation!
Along with more than 3,000 attendees, representatives from the Prince of Peace Parish in Great Bend and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Dodge City traveled to Chicago, Illinois to attend the 2009 32nd Annual National Pastoral Musicians (NPM) Conference, July 6-11.
Participants attended many breakout sessions geared towards musical directors, organists, pianists, cantors, religious and other parish musicians, all of whom truly embraced this year’s theme of “Sing to the Lord!”
DRE, Catechist of the Year awards part
of annual KARE Conference
(At right, Steven Polley presents the Catechist of the Year Award to Loretta De La Rosa of St. Mary Parish, Garden City. DRE of the Year Sarah Weber, from St. Anthony Parish, Fowler, was unable to attend, and will be presented her award Sept. 19.)
Each summer in the last full weekend in July the four dioceses of Kansas host the KARE (Kansas Association of Religious Educators) Conference. At the conference, DRE’s, Catechists, Youth Ministers, Teachers, and RCIA Team Members have the opportunity to hear national speakers and participate in workshops and small group sharing sessions. But one of the greatest things about the conference is the chance to come together with others sharing stories and gaining insight that leads to greater ministry. This year’s theme was “Come To The Feast, The Revelation of God Through Liturgy” From topics of “Leading People to Sacrament” to “The Mass is Never Ending” participants did find a greater revelation of God.
Nine things you missed from Pope Francis' time in Havana
Havana, Cuba, Sep 21, 2015 / 03:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - In an intense Sunday, Pope Francis on Sept. 20 said a Mass attended by 200,000 people in Havana's Revolution Square, visited Fidel Castro, improvised two speeches, and was welcomed with affection by the Cuban people. Here are some details you might have missed while he was in “the Rome of the Caribbean.”
First Communion
Five children from parishes in Havana received First Communion from Pope Francis at the Mass in Revolution Square: Melanie de la Caridad Lugo Rodríguez, Sadhiel Mollinedo Estrada, Gabriela Rodríguez Perdigón, Yelani González Pérez, and Jonathan Michel Torres Cruz. This is the first Pope Francis has administered this sacrament on an apostolic journey.
#elpapaencuba dio la Primera Comunión a cinco niños de La Habana. Una esperanza para la Iglesia en Cuba @aciprensa pic.twitter.com/7bn2gsz4St
— Eduardo Berdejo (@eberdejor) September 20, 2015
Communion on the tongue
During the Mass, many priests did everything possible to distribute Communion directly on the tongue to the thousands of faithful in attendance, even though it was permissible to receive in the hand. The pictures speak for themselves.
Se distribuye la comunión a los asistentes a la Plaza de la Revolución #PapaEnCuba pic.twitter.com/T3OIhypsOv
— Periódico Granma (@Granma_Digital) September 20, 2015
Sun and Rain
During the Mass celebrated in Revolution Square the temperature hit 104 degrees. Despite the heat, 200,000 Cubans participated in the Eucharist in a spirit of reverence, arriving before dawn. In the afternoon a light rain began to fall but this did not discourage the thousands of young people who listened to the Pope outside Havana's cathedral.
http://aciprensa.tumblr.com/post/129494764483/los-fieles-que-asistieron-a-la-misa-estuvieron
An Emmy for the Pope
On the flight to Cuba, Pope Francis received a singular gift. Rogelio Mora Tagle, a journalist with Telemundo, gave him the Emmy Award that the TV channel won last year for its coverage of the 2013 conclave in whiche he was elected Bishop of Rome.
“What is greater than an award, Holy Father, is the work of all of us who work for Telemundo and all of those who work in Hispanic television in the United States for all the people that live there and are going through difficult times,” the journalist said.
Honored and grateful to share with @pontifex the #EmmyAward we won during the coverage of his election in 2013. pic.twitter.com/vCwczoPdL1
— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) September 19, 2015
Under the patronage of Our Lady of Charity
Enthroned on the altar at the Mass said in Revolution Square was a beautiful replica statue of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, who was named the Patroness of Cuba just 100 years ago by Benedict XV. A statue of the Risen Christ from the Havana cathedral was also brought to the square.
A photo posted by ACI Prensa (@aciprensa) on
Sep 20, 2015 at 8:28am PDT
University student orchestra
The Symphonic Orchestra of the University of Fine Arts accompanied the choir during the Mass in Revolution Square, showcasing Cuban music. “Many of us are from this school or graduated from it. It’s a great honor that they chose us for this. We’re really happy. We have worked a lot these last days,” Anabela Eschevez Acosta, a 24 year old from Camagüey, told CNA.
http://aciprensa.tumblr.com/post/129521297430/testimonio-de-anabela-eschevez-acosta-una-joven
The flying zuchetto
It happened again. When Pope Francis was stepping down from the airplane at José Martí Airport in Havana, the wind played a trick on him again and lifted off his zucchetto. But this time he was able to retrieve it with the help of a member of the papal entourage.
Popemobile a la Cubana
The Cuban popemobile is a Peugeot Hoggar made in Brazil but assembled as papal vehicle in Cuba. The Cuban mechanics decided that the style should be austere and open on the sides so that Pope Francis could greet the people.
Papamóvil que traslada al #PapaenCuba es Peugeot Hoggar adaptado en la isla http://t.co/tIVLF5SyvU fotos @CubaMINREX pic.twitter.com/lwh21pbzSK
— ACI Prensa (@aciprensa) September 21, 2015
Popular chants
During the last event of the day, among the thousands of youth who joined Pope Francis on the grounds outside the Havana cathedral, a new and catchy chorus was introduced which they chanted in unison “1, 2 y 3, qué Papa más chévere, qué Papa más chévere, el que nos vino a ver,” or “1, 2, 3, what a really cool Pope, what a really cool Pope, who's come to see us”.
Pratt hosts mission group from 
Minnesota en route to NM
By Glenna Borho
Special to the Register
At 4 a.m. Saturday, July 18, a group of 34 high school students and 11 adult sponsors boarded a bus and traveled from St. Charles, Minnesota bound for Mescalera, New Mexico.
Their true mission was to meet 355 other people in Mescalera to refurbish homes located on the Apache Indian reservation. This was arranged through Work Camp, the sponsoring organization which has been organizing missions within the United States for more than 30 years.
Pope Francis: Do you believe that Christ can transform you?
Havana, Cuba, Sep 21, 2015 / 09:02 am (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis Monday celebrated his second public Mass during his papal visit to Cuba, reflecting that an encounter with Christ has the power to transform even the most rejected sinners into missionaries.
“The gaze of Jesus gives rise to missionary activity, service, self-giving,” the Pope said, drawing his inspiration from the conversion of St. Matthew, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 21.
“Jesus' love heals our short-sightedness and pushes us to look beyond, not to be satisfied with appearances or with what is politically correct.”
Reminding the faithful that they too are sinners, the pontiff called them to take a moment and “recall with gratitude and happiness those situations, that moment, when the merciful gaze of God was felt in our lives.”
“He sees beyond this, to our dignity as sons and daughters, a dignity at times sullied by sin, but one which endures in the depth of our soul,” the Pope Francis said. “He came precisely to seek out all those who feel unworthy of God, unworthy of others.”
Tens of thousands were in attendance at the papal Mass in Cuba's southeast city of Holguín, in the central Revolution Square, marking the second full day of Pope Francis' visit to the island nation, which runs from Sept. 19-22. He is the third Roman pontiff to visit the country, having been preceded by St. John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.
Pope Francis spoke on the conversion of St. Matthew, an apostle and evangelist, whose Gospel account tells “us what it was like, this encounter (with Jesus) which changed his life.”
“How strong was the love in that look of Jesus, which moved Matthew to do what he did!” the Pope said. “What power must have been in his eyes to make Matthew get up from his table!”
At the time of this call, Matthew had been working as a tax-collector. Also known as a publican, it was a reviled profession which involved the collection taxes from the Jews to give to the Romans. Those who engaged in this work were considered traitors.
“Publicans were looked down upon and considered sinners; as such, they lived apart and were despised by others,” the pontiff said. “One could hardly eat, speak or pray with the likes of these.”
“Jesus, on the other hand, stopped; he did not quickly take his distance. He looked at Matthew calmly, peacefully. He looked at him with eyes of mercy; he looked at him as no one had ever looked at him before.”
Just as when Jesus called Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, Mary Magdalen, and Peter, the pontiff said, his look “look unlocked Matthew’s heart; it set him free, it healed him, it gave him hope, a new life.”
Pope Francis reflected on how Matthew encountered the “joy of service” in Jesus' gaze, and left behind his live as a tax-collector to follow Christ's mission.
Jesus, moreover, challenges us in our belief: “Do you believe it is possible that a traitor can become a friend? Do you believe is possible that the son of a carpenter can be the Son of God?”
“His gaze transforms our way of seeing things, his heart transforms our hearts. God is a Father who seeks the salvation of each of his sons and daughters.”
http://catholicnewsagency.tumblr.com/post/129573446998/a-little-bit-of-the-music-that-was-played-during The Pope then called the faithful to look upon the Lord in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession.
He also invited them to extend their gaze to those who “feel excluded and abandoned,” like the sick, those in prison, the elderly, and families experiencing difficulties.
“Again and again we are called to learn from Jesus, who always sees what is most authentic in every person, which is the image of his Father.”
The Pope acknowledge the work and challenge of the Catholic Church in Cuba to spread the Gospel, including the “most remote areas,” especially “mission houses.”
In light of the shortage of Churches and priests, these mission houses “provide for many people a place for prayer, for listening to the word of God, for catechesis and community life,” the Pope said.
“They are small signs of God’s presence in our neighborhoods and a daily aid in our effort to respond to the plea of the apostle Paul: 'I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' (cf. Eph 4:1-3).”
Pope Francis concluded his homily by appealing to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, the patroness of Cuba.
“May her 'eyes of mercy' ever keep watch over each of you, your homes, your families, and all those who feel that they have no place. In her love, may she protect us all as she once cared for Jesus.”
Dodge City ahead of the
curve in 
prepping for
problem gamers
By David Myers
Southwest Kansas Register
(At right is the Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, set to open in December.)
Debbie Snapp, Executive Director of CSS, recently attended three days of classes presented by Kansas State University designed to examine the impact of a new casino on a community.
She said that less than 10 percent of all gamblers develop a pathological gaming problem, but it’s those 10 percent who contribute more than 50 percent of the casino’s revenue.
“It’s the problem gamers who really contribute most of the revenues to the casino,” Snapp said. “There’s that business tension of how can they maximize their profits and still be sure they don’t take advantage of people who have a problem.”
Pope Francis' gift to Castro:
a challenging message from Cuban leader's old teacher
St. Stanislaus Parish:
100 years of Catholic
presence
By Tim WenzlSouthwest Kansas Register
St. Stanislaus Parish in Ingalls celebrated its centennial on Aug. 15. Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore presided at the Mass. He was assisted by Father Wesley Schawe, sacramental minister, Father Frank Jordan, retired in residence; Father Dermot Tighe, former pastor, and Father Anthony Suellentrop, retired.
The celebration was held on the memorial day of St. Stanislaus, who died on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Bishop Gilmore made the following observations in his homily.
Let poverty be your mother,
Pope Francis tells religious in Cuba
Havana, Cuba, Sep 20, 2015 / 06:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis on Sunday spoke from the heart about the importance of spiritual poverty, the danger of worldly wealth, and the universal need for mercy. He made his impromptu remarks to Cuban priests, consecrated religious and seminarians at Havana’s cathedral.
“The spirit of the world does not love the way of the Son of God, who emptied himself and became poor. He became nothing - he humiliated himself in order to be one of us,” the Pope said, adding that every individual is called to this same poverty.
Pope Francis talked about the “things of the heart” and the Christian duty to welcome poverty and not hide from it. He had set aside his prepared homily for evening prayer at the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception Sept. 20.
Many generous souls fall away from the faith because they are enraptured by the mundane, by the worldly, and by the mediocre, he continued. He warned those gathered to stay away from the temptation of worldly riches.
“Richness impoverishes you in a bad way--it takes the best we have and makes us poor,” the Pope asserted. He contrasted this with spiritual wealth, saying that “to be rich is to trust in God.”
The Pope encouraged all consecrated religious to “love poverty as a mother.” He advised them to look interiorly at themselves and ask: “How is my spirit of poverty? How is my interior detachment?”
He also drew on his background with the Society of Jesus and its founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola.
“I think it can be helpful to you to hear what St. Ignatius told us - and this is not an advertisement!” he joked about his Jesuit past.
“Poverty is the wall and the mother of consecrated life. It is the mother because it engendered trust in God, and it is the wall because it protected it from any mundane affections,” the Pope explained.
He went on to talk about how to treat the “littlest ones” in the world, because this is the standard by which Christians will be judged.
“Who is the least one? Where do I find him?” the Pope asked.
He explained that the “least of my brothers” are the forsaken and the last in the world, the ones whom the world despises and hides away. From them, “the smile of a person who is paralyzed,” or even a “drooling kiss” can show the tenderness and mercy of God, he stated.
Turning to priests, the Pope noted a privileged place where the clergy can find and meet the forsaken and the least of the world: the confessional.
The confessional is “where the least one appears, where that man or woman shows their misery to you.”
Pope Francis asked priests everywhere not to chastise or punish those who go to confession; rather, Pope Francis encouraged clergy to show them the mercy of God.
“Do not grow tired of forgiving. Be forgivers. When the penitent come to you, do not drive them away from the confessional. Jesus embraced them. Jesus loved them,” he continued.
“Do not be afraid of the mercy of God. Let it flow through your hands and through your forgiving embrace, because that man or woman is the least, and therefore, they are Jesus,” Pope Francis urged.
The Holy Father ended his off-the-cuff remarks with a prayer that asked God for the gift to be poor in spirit and to be merciful: “May the Lord give us these graces: poverty and mercy, because there, we find Jesus.”
Before the Pope spoke, Cardinal Jaime Ortega of Havana asked the Pope to bless the Church in Cuba. A religious sister spoke to the Pope and reflected on her experience when she found out her community assigned her to care for people with disabilities. She said she thought it would be the most demanding of her assignments.
But the greatest demand was to follow Christ, she said.
“You learn to be the mother of the poor,” she said. “We trust in the guidance of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and Mary, our Mother.”
Pope Francis has spent a full day in Cuba. He celebrated Mass outside in Havana for an estimated 200,000 people and briefly met with the former president, Fidel Castro. The pontiff’s trip to Cuba will last until Tuesday, after which he will travel to the United States.
A photo posted by Catholic News Agency (@catholicnewsagency) on Sep 21, 2015 at 7:57am PDT
Sacred Heart, Pratt:
A celebration 125
years in the making
By David Myers
Southwest Kansas Register
PRATT -- They came more than a century ago, the rugged homesteaders filled with sun-baked grit and God-given determination to celebrate Mass for the first time in their community.
One hundred and twenty-five years later, the faithful of Pratt County -- including many direct descendants of those founding mothers and fathers -- gathered to celebrate 125 years of Catholic presence.
On Aug. 22, a special anniversary Mass was celebrated by the Most Rev. Eugene J. Gerber, former bishop of Dodge City, at Sacred Heart Church in Pratt.